


Second Life

by seonghwhydoidothis



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Cat!Hybrid Seungkwan, Hybrid AU, M/M, Multiple chapters, Wordcount: Over 20.000, and trusting myself to write something, dog!hybrid mingyu, hybrid mingyu, hybrid seungkwan, hybrid seventeen, meanie, seungcheol is mentioned like once lmao, this fic is a product of me waking up at 3am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:14:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,294
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26069314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seonghwhydoidothis/pseuds/seonghwhydoidothis
Summary: Dog!Hybrid Mingyu and Cat!Hybrid Seungkwan escape from their cells one night, and each stumble across someone who doesn't judge them for what they were born as.
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Jeon Wonwoo/Kim Mingyu
Comments: 14
Kudos: 146





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is a ride, not gonna lie. It's over 20K, and as of this moment, it's all finished, so you won't have to worry about super super long waits between updates. I think I'll update every few days-every week, and some chapters will be longer/shorter than others. As tagged, there's graphic descriptions of violence, but not until a few chapters in. I hope you enjoy, and thank you for reading!

Wonwoo did not. like. dogs. 

They were dumb, and drooly, and they stunk, and they knocked things over with their stupid tails, and they jumped at you, and they needed so much attention. And they were slightly scary. Slightly. But Wonwoo wasn’t scared of them. He wasn’t.

He was.

Cats were _so_ much better. They were cute and cuddly, and they were soft, and they were calm, and they snuggled with you, and you could always fit them in your lap. And they purred. Dogs just barked. 

Wonwoo actually worked at a cat cafe, only further fueling his love for felines. He was on his way out the door for his lunch break, getting slightly sick of the cafe food every day for lunch. There was only so many times he could have a turkey sandwich in a row.

He was just going to stop by the supermarket to pick up a salad or something light and healthy, but the bakery section was _right_ next to the salads. It would be so quick and easy to slip a cupcake into his order. But, of course, he was having a salad too. He was healthy. 

The grocery store was only a five minute walk from the cafe so Wonwoo took his time strolling along the sidewalks, popping one earbud in and shuffling his playlist. He passed an alleyway, hearing a soft whine coming from the end of it. His heart tightened, what if someone had left a poor cat out on the street to die? Wonwoo peered into the alley, but there was no cat, instead, there was a black, rather scruffy, dog, rummaging through an overturned garbage can, presumably in search of food. A dog was a no in Wonwoo’s book. Wonwoo jolted slightly as the dog met his eyes, quickly backing out of the alleyway and hurrying back onto the path to the grocery store. Wonwoo felt _slightly_ guilty for leaving the dog there, he obviously had nowhere else to go, but that dog was sure as hell not coming home with Wonwoo, and besides, lots of people liked dogs. Someone else would take it. 

Wonwoo shook his head, clearing the guilt from his head as he walked into the grocery store. He grabbed his salad, and a _small_ cupcake from the bakery section, and walked up to the counter. There was a small display of frozen meals, one being a steak and a few heads of broccoli. Wonwoo thought back to the dog in the alleyway, digging through garbage cans to search for its next meal, and his chest tightened in guilt again. The meal was cheap. And if Wonwoo wasn’t going to take the dog home, he could at least feed it. He didn’t like dogs, but he wasn’t a monster. 

He grabbed the frozen meal, paying for it all with shaking hands. He could just throw the food at the dog, but that’s probably not what he wanted to be doing to a stray, possibly rabid animal. But he wasn’t about to stick his hands near the thing either. He thanked the cashier, ducking back to the bakery counter and asking if he could use an oven to warm the meal up. He had a minute to think while the food was being prepared, so he finally decided that he’d put the meal package on the ground and slide it over with his foot. It was gonna be _fine_.

The now heated meal was handed back to Wonwoo over the counter and he thanked the employee, legs shaking slightly as he made his way back to the alleyway. He _really_ didn’t like dogs. 

The plastic tray was trembling in his hands as he finally reached the alleyway, seeing that the dog was still there, lying alone, and looking absolutely pitiful. The animal let out a soft whine when it saw Wonwoo, sensitive nose probably picking up on the warm meal that Wonwoo held in his hands. Wonwoo slowly lowered the tray to the ground, bringing his foot up to slide the plastic over the ground towards the dog. The dog stood, tail wagging slowly behind it as the food reached him. Wonwoo slowly backed out of the alley, heart rate spiking as the dog stepped forward towards him. 

Wonwoo’s hands came up to hover in front of him, and the dog seemed to catch on that Wonwoo had no desire to interact with it. The dog let out a soft whine, tail still wagging behind it as he began eating the warm meal from the tray. Wonwno turned, walking away from the alley as fast as possible, his own lunch in the grocery bag swinging back and forth by his side. 

He reached the cafe not long after, the kitties that came to greet him at the door a godsend after almost interacting with a _dog_. He let one of the cats jump into his arms, humming when the cat burrowed into his chest and butted its head up under his chin, purring all the while. Cats just felt better than dogs did. 

\--

Wonwoo walked home that day, having walked to work in the morning. It was _pouring_ rain, but it was somewhat refreshing. It was only a twenty minute walk, at most, and he liked the serenity that came from walking alone in the city, an earbud in as his music played again. He failed to hear the footsteps, or rather, paws, behind him as he walked. 

Wonwoo cursed his luck, (and tensed up a bit out of fear), when he arrived home, seeing movement out of the corner of his eye and jolting as he realized that the dog that he’d fed earlier had followed him home. 

The dog’s tail swayed slowly behind him as he limped over to Wonwoo. Blood stained the ground where the dog’s left front paw hit, and Wonwoo almost cried as the dog bumped gently against his leg.

He couldn’t just leave the dog out in the rain, bleeding. He had to take him in. He sighed, recoiling as he felt a cold wet nose bump against his hand. He retracted his hand, digging in his pocket to find his keys. He stalked quickly to the door, cringing when the dog bounded inside, leaving mud, blood, and wet footprints all over his white carpet.

The dog was bigger than most, which didn’t help calm Wonwoo at all. Scruffy black fur covered the dog’s body, probably a lab of some sort if Wonwoo’s limited knowledge of dogs was doing him any good.

Wonwoo finally snapped back into reality, heart beating fast as he tried thinking of a viable plan to get the dog into the bathtub. That would most likely require _touching_ the dog. No. Wonwoo was going to have to pass on that. He could find another way. But the dog had other plans, eyeing his pristine leather couch, (white leather), and hopping right on. A shriek made its way out of Wonwoo’s throat as he watched his clean little home be destroyed before his very eyes.

The dog simply stared up at Wonwoo from the couch, tongue lolling out of its mouth and tail wagging, gently thumping against the cushions. Wonwoo tentatively pivoted towards his kitchen, backing slowly into the open doorway while holding his hands out in front of him. He wanted the dog off of his couch, but not yet. Not until he had something to drive the dog into the bathroom.

He ripped open a package of jerky that had been lying in the cabinet (for god knows how long), and made to turn around and go back into the living room. Upon turning, however, Wonwoo screamed and nearly fell forwards as he desperately tried to stop himself, because the dog was sat _right_ in front of him, tail now beating against the floor, spraying mucky rainwater across the kitchen. Wonwoo’s hand shook as he held a piece of jerky out to the dog, eyes scrunching shut when he saw the dog’s maw open and the razor sharp teeth emerge. However, it wasn’t a bite that Wonwoo felt, instead the brush of a wet nose against his fingers and a soft huff before the jerky was gently tugged out of his grip.

Wonwoo slowly opened his eyes, seeing the dog happily snacking on the jerky before swallowing, wet nose coming again to nudge at Wonwoo’s fingers. Wonwoo’s guard lowered infinitesimally as the dog gently nosed at his fingers, but he let out a small squeak when the dog licked his hand. 

_Gross._

He quickly retracted his hand, remembering that this was another reason he avoided dogs at all costs. Cats didn’t do that. Cats were better. The dog trotted forward a few steps, feet folding under it again as it sat right on Wonwoo’s foot. The dog’s head leaned against Wonwoo’s thigh as it softly panted, staring up at him with something akin to a smile.

Wonwoo sighed, backing away and sliding his foot out from under the animal. The dog let out a soft whine, but eagerly followed Wonwoo as the man made his way into the bathroom. Wonwoo closed the door behind him, making sure that the dog was securely inside before doing so. He turned, seeing the dog sitting contentedly in front of him. He slid past the animal, twisting the knobs on the bathtub so that it began to fill.

The dog jumped at the loud noise, scrambling to hide between Wonwoo’s legs. The man spluttered, stumbling backwards so that he wouldn’t trip. Cats didn’t trip people.

The bathtub was barely starting to fill and Wonwoo knew he had some time to kill so he sat on the floor, his back up against the door as he pulled out his phone. He had barely opened up his messages app before he felt a weight on his lap and he looked over the top of his phone to see the dog, contently curling up in Wonwoo’s lap. The dog, with its dirty fur and paws. On Wonwoo’s lap. Wonwoo’s jeans were slowly being soaked with muddy rainwater, and he could see splotches of blood from where the dog’s front paw had hit. And the dog was certainly not sized for this. His legs awkwardly splayed out to the sides, while the rest of him was perfectly balanced in Wonwoo’s lap. Wonwoo cringed, hands coming to push the dog off on instinct, he couldn’t just let him sit there. But when his hand made contact with the dog’s fur the dog whimpered, happily so, as his tail began wagging and smacking Wonwoo in the thigh. The dog nuzzled it’s big wet nose into Wonwoo’s palm, licking over it a few more times before dipping its head down so that Wonwoo’s fingers brushed over his ears. 

Wonwoo was on a bit of an overload, he really wasn’t used to dogs and this one was particularly friendly. But he felt the dog nudging its ears into his hand, so he slowly began scratching them, cringing at the grime that now caked his fingers and gathered under his nails. The dog rolled over, tummy on display for Wonwoo to rub. Wonwoo carefully avoided the dog’s stomach however, he was pretty sure that if he were to do the wrong thing, he’d get bitten. He’d stick to the ears for now.

Wonwoo awkwardly pet the dog until the bathtub was finally full, gently pushing the dog off of his lap and clambering to his feet before it could get back on. He turned off the taps, tentatively looking back at the dog whose head was once again resting against Wonwoo’s thigh while he stood. The dog only stared back at him happily.

“Um, dog, you gotta,” Wonwoo cringed at his feeble attempts to get the dog into the bath, but there was no way in hell that Wonwoo was going to _pick up_ the dog and _carry him_ into the bath, “you gotta get in the tub. Um, i-in there.” He pointed to the water that filled the bath, “just uh, climb in or something.” The only response that he got from the dog was a lick on his outstretched finger. 

“Gross, no, you have to get _inside_ the _bathtub_ dog, in there, get in the water.”

This time he leaned forwards into the bathtub, pointing from inside so that the dog had to prop his paws up on the side of the tub to nose at Wonwoo’s fingers. 

“Okay, okay that’s good, Um, now, uh, jump? I guess?” 

Wonwoo regretted his decisions. The dog clearly knew it’s commands, however, didn’t jump into the tub. Instead, the dog eagerly leapt at Wonwoo, paws hitting the man’s chest and wet nose bumping into Wonwoo’s own. Wonwoo shrieked, hands coming to shield his face from the dog’s unwanted attack but forgot that they were holding him up from where he was leaning forwards on the wall, losing his balance and clumsily landing in the bath. At least his phone was on the counter and not in his pocket. 

Wonwoo quickly righted himself in the bathtub, so that at least he was sitting rather than half-drowning. The dog, seeing Wonwoo’s shock and upset at the situation, whined, jumping right into the tub and into Wonwoo’s lap. 

Wonwoo glared at the dog in his lap, head jerking back when it tried to kiss him. He groaned, pushing the dog off of his lap and into the water, hoisting himself up onto his knees. The water was beginning to turn a gritty brown, the dirt caked onto the dog slowly ebbing away as he sat happily in the tub. 

Wonwoo reached for his shampoo, checking to be sure that it was safe for dogs before squirting a bit into his palm. He didn’t like dogs, but again, he wasn't a monster. He’d already had to sacrifice so much of his comfort to help this one, he couldn’t let him die now. 

He gently began lathering the soap into the dog's fur, a soft gasp leaving his throat when the dog all but melted into his touch, tail wagging and splashing water everywhere. He lathered the shampoo into the dog’s fur until the dog was completely covered in sweet-smelling suds, tail now wagging and splashing bubbles rather than rainwater. Wonwoo cursed as he realized that he had no way to rinse the soap off of the dog, his showerhead wasn’t detachable, and now his clothes were soaked and he couldn’t get out. He sighed, spotting the cup that sat on the counter, used for when Wonwoo rinsed after brushing his teeth. He quickly decided that it was in reach, sliding to the side of the bathtub and making sure that the dog stayed sitting in the bath behind Wonwoo.

With a bit of stretching, Wonwoo was able to reach the cup, turning back and sitting down to find that the dog was _much_ closer than it had been before. If that wasn’t bad enough, Wonwoo didn’t have time to stop the beast before it jumped forwards and licked his _cheek_ , leaving Wonwoo spluttering and wiping his face with his soaking wet sleeve.

The dog looked all too pleased with himself at this unwanted advance, staring up at Wonwoo with a sort of grin and trying to lick him again. Wonwoo caught the dog this time, one hand enclosed around the dog’s muzzle and another against the dog’s legs as he pushed it back to the other side of the tub, He wasted no time in dunking the cup under the water, cupping a hand over the dog’s eyes to try and dump it over his head. But the dog squirmed at Wonwoo’s touch, nuzzling his big, wet nose into Wonwoo’s hand and flopping over to lay in the tub, head landing in Wonwoo’s lap. Wonwoo froze as the dog repositioned himself, wincing as the dog snuggled up to him under the water. He felt the dog paw at his arm that was still raised, hesitantly bringing it down to rub one of the dog’s ears. Wonwoo took his chance, quickly covering the dog’s eyes and pouring the water over the dog’s head. The dog barely reacted at all, only rubbing his head against Wonwoo’s thigh under the water. 

At this point, due to the dog’s spontaneous rolling around under the water, (another thing cats didn’t do), the soap was mostly washed out of his fur. The dog proved to have brilliant black fur, shiny and pretty, but it’s not like Wonwoo liked it. It was still a dog’s fur. But if it was on a cat, it would look great. 

So Wonwoo reached out and around the shower door, grabbing the towel that hung there on the hook and setting it on the mat. He had three other towels stacked up outside of the shower, but he wasn’t gonna get the mat all wet! He stood, stepping out carefully onto the towel and sighing when his clothes leaked water all over, soaking through the towel before he could even dry off his feet. 

He reached for another towel that was folded and sitting in a cabinet, turning back to the bathtub and seeing the dog sitting there, tail wagging and half-grinning as always. 

Wonwoo thought of the different ways he could do this, he could tell the dog to jump out of the bathtub, but telling him to jump hadn’t exactly gone well in the first place. He could drain the tub, they dry the dog off _inside_ the tub, and then just leave the bathroom, that way the dog would probably follow him and he wouldn’t have to carry him out. That seemed like his best option. 

Wonwoo leaned back into the tub, pulling the plug to drain the water and gasping softly as he was met with a nose bumping against his own. He was half frozen, only able to move again when the dog licked his nose and Wonwoo jerked his head back. Disgusting.

When the tub was finally drained Wonwoo tentatively reached into the bath, armed with two towels. One that he draped over the dog’s back, and one that he spread across his chest. Just in case. He slowly started rubbing the towel over the dog’s fur, stopping short when the dog merely rolled over, tummy bared in the bath.

Wonwoo sighed, leaning in and gently grazing the towel over the dog’s stomach, knowing that he would have to at some point. He got the dog’s lower half dried, but with the way that the dog was rolling around happily, he didn’t think that he’d have access to the dog’s back anytime soon.

He continued to pet the dog’s tummy, biting back a soft smile at the way that the dog squirmed happily under Wonwoo’s touch. Dogs usually hated him. It was mutual of course, but still. He had slowed slightly in his ministrations and the dog decided that it was enough, so he sprang up, making Wonwoo jump slightly out of shock. The dog propped its big paws up on the side of the bathtub, panting excitedly at Wonwoo who quickly moved to dry off its back. 

The dog’s face was over Wonwoo’s shoulder, though he tipped it up to nudge his nose over Wonwoo’s face. Wonwoo let out an involuntary giggle at the ticklish sensation, hands coming up to brush the dog’s muzzle out of his face. The dog let out a happy bark, though the noise startled Wonwoo slightly in its volume, getting excited by the playful gestures and jumping right out of the tub. 

Wonwoo shrieked as the dog tackled him back onto the tile, at least thankful that he had a towel draped over his chest. The dog nosed at Wonwoo’s face, licking his cheeks until Wonwoo regained his balance and sat upright, holding the dog’s face back.

Wonwoo’s face was covered in drool and he gagged, trying to wipe it off with the sleeve of his hoodie. But the hoodie was still soaking wet, so it only made him more uncomfortable. He gave up, standing and sighing as he finally let go of the dog’s face.

The dog was dry, so Wonwoo toweled himself off as best he could, opening the bathroom door and snorting when the dog raced out before Wonwoo could. The dog headed right into Wonwoo’s room, having the _audacity_ to jump up on his bed and curl up. Wonwoo let out an indignant cry, rushing over to shoo the dog off of his bed. The dog jumped down, looking up at Wonwoo and whining sadly.

“Don’t look at me like that. Here, move, I need to get dressed.” Wonwoo nudged the dog out of the room with his foot, shutting the door before the dog could race back in. He heard whining from the outside of the door, narrowing his eyes when scratching began to sound as well. That dog had _licked_ his _face_ , he better not be tearing up Wonwoo’s door. 

Finally Wonwoo got changed into dry clothes, pajamas consisting of sweatpants and a different hoodie, then gathered up his pile of wet clothes and opened the door. He was, unsurprisingly, met with a very happy dog, paws landing on his waist and muzzle stuck in his face. Wonwoo gently pushed the dog off of him, starting back down the hallway and going back into the kitchen. The dog happily trotted after him, once again sitting on his foot when Wonwoo stopped in front of the fridge. He looked down at the dog, one eyebrow raised as it panted happily. Wonwoo opened the fridge, finding leftover steak from a dinner that he had cooked last night and setting it on the counter. Two steaks a day probably wasn’t healthy for a dog, but Wonwoo had nothing else in his fridge. There was a big chunk left, so he cut it in half and heated both up. One half would be cut up for the dog, then the other half would be left for Wonwoo to eat. It was ridiculously late, but Wonwoo hadn’t eaten yet, and the dog had eaten the jerky like he hadn’t eaten anything in weeks. 

The steak heated up nicely and Wonwoo set one half on a plate, slicing it up into small, bite-sized pieces. He set the dog’s plate on the floor in the kitchen.

The dog merely stared at the plate of food, then back up at Wonwoo with that grin of his. Wonwoo bent down pointing at the plate of steak but that only made the dog try to curl up in Wonwoo’s lap. Wonwoo sat on the floor, giving in and letting the dog curl up on his legs and taking a piece of steak in his hands. His heart was beating faster with what he was about to do, he was getting more and more comfortable with this dog, but what was to say that the dog wouldn’t give up and bite him now? 

He held out the piece of steak with a shaky hand and the dog nosed at Wonwoo’s fingers, gently snapping up the meat and looking back at Wonwoo expectantly. Wonwoo pointed at the plate, hand-feeding the dog one more piece of steak before standing and pushing him back onto the floor. Wonwoo took his own plate, sitting on the couch, but failed to see the dog trailing after the man like a, well, lost puppy. Wonwoo sat down, being met with the dog’s head resting on his knee when he got settled.

“What- Your food is in there… Why are you here?”

The dog’s tail beat happily against the ground at Wonwoo’s attention, and he quickly hopped up to sit beside Wonwoo on the couch. Wonwoo sighed, standing and placing his plate on the coffee table in front of him, walking back to the kitchen.

The dog bounded after him, eating again only after Wonwoo stood firmly beside the plate on the ground, and when he moved again towards the sofa the dog did too. Wonwoo massaged his temple with his fingers, grabbing the plate from the ground and setting it on the floor of the living room. He resumed his place on the couch, flicking on the television and letting whatever sitcom was playing go on in the background while he ate. 

He was halfway through his meal when he noticed that the dog wasn’t eating. Just resting his head on Wonwoo’s foot, sprawled out over the floor. Wonwoo sighed, finishing his steak in a few quick bites and reaching down to point at the steak.

“That’s yours. That’s your food, for you. _Eat_.”

The dog nosed at Wonwoo’s fingers. Wonwoo grabbed a piece of the steak, brandishing it before the dog’s snout. Again, the dog eagerly ate it out of Wonwoo’s hand, but showed no desire to eat off of the plate.

“Jesus Christ, fine.”

Wonwoo took the plate, setting it in his lap and waiting until the dog was sitting securely in front of him to hand him another square of steak.

Somehow, Wonwoo managed to feed the dog the entire plate of steak without losing a finger. It was a miracle. And it was also two-thirty in the morning. Wonwoo had work tomorrow. He needed sleep. The dog tried curling up on Wonwoo’s lap on the couch but he pushed him off, setting off for the bedroom and biting his lip when the dog followed him. 

He knew what would happen. The dog had already gotten onto his bed before, and he certainly enjoyed following Wonwoo around. But Wonwoo didn’t know if he wanted the dog to sleep in his bed. Well, he didn’t, but he didn’t know if he could _stand_ the dog sleeping in his bed. If he was being honest with himself, the whole situation was giving him lots of anxiety, and he wasn’t happy with the way that it was going. Dogs were unpredictable, and one as large as this could do some damage. Wonwoo was not ready to see what the dog would do if it got angry with him. So he didn’t protest when, as expected, the dog leapt into bed after Wonwoo slid in. 

Wonwoo winced as the dog burrowed as close to him as possible, snout nuzzled into Wonwoo’s cheek and paws splayed over his chest. He felt the rhythmic beating of the dog’s tail against the mattress as he tried forcing himself to sleep, and somewhere, amidst his anxiety, he grew tired and drifted off practically under the dog. 

\--

As soon as Mingyu was absolutely certain that the human was asleep, (Dog senses came in handy and he felt the human’s steady, slow breathing and saw his peaceful, relaxed expression), he rose from his spot, carefully and quietly jumping down from the bed and trotting out of the bedroom. 

Once he was clear of the doorway he shifted, bones cracking quietly as he morphed into a human. He started in the bathroom, taking one of the partially wet towels that the human had used to dry him off and beginning to wipe up the floor. There were still puddles of bathwater that he hadn’t had time to wipe up and Mingyu felt bad letting the human clean up all the mess.

He hung the wet towels up to dry over the shower, folding the remaining dry ones that had probably been tipped over in the chaos and setting them back on the rack. The clothes on Mingyu were currently ripped and dirty, and he found a pile of the human’s dirty laundry by the back door that he dug through, pulling out a shirt and some sweatpants to use so that he didn’t get himself even more dirty, the human had cleaned him up so nicely. 

He hid his own dirty clothes underneath the couch, wetting a paper towel in the kitchen and trekking back into the living room, wiping the couch free of muddy pawprints and blood stains. He was only then reminded of his cut hand, but he found that it had begun healing, most likely in the bath. Once the couch was clear, Mingyu wiped it once over with a dry paper towel, ensuring that the leather wouldn’t be ruined. 

He saw a framed picture on the coffee table, picking it up and scoffing when he saw that it was of a ginger cat. Mingyu had been able to tell that the human at least wasn’t a dog person, their petrified gasps and shaky hands had given away their fear, but he didn’t know the human was a cat person. That was disgusting. He’d just have to show the human that dogs were best. He should probably take a softer approach, the usual happy bubbly dog aura didn’t seem to enchant the human. Seemed to scare him, actually.

Mingyu moved to the kitchen next, wiping up some of the residue from their dinner that had gotten on the floor and the counter from the two plates, and tossing a stray paper towel in the trash can. He walked through each room of the human’s house, until he verified that everything was clean enough. Then, he shifted back into the big black dog, excitedly hopping back into bed with the human and resting his snout on his chubby cheek. The human shifted in his sleep, clearly attracted to the warmth that Mingyu emitted and curling around him. Mingyu left a soft lick on the human’s nose, closing his eyes and letting himself succumb to sleep in the human’s arms.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!! I hope the wait wasn't too long, I've decided to post on Mondays and Fridays. I hope you liked the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too! <3

Wonwoo woke up the next morning in mild discomfort. There was something pressing on his tummy, and his face was wet. He groggily blinked open his eyes, met with a big wet nose hovering before him, and then a tongue swiping across his cheek. Wonwoo spluttered, hands coming up to shove the dog’s muzzle away and eyes widening as he tried remembering the previous night. 

The dog whined at his harsh shove, flopping onto Wonwoo’s tummy and resting his muzzle on Wonwoo’s chest. Once Wonwoo was absolutely sure that he wasn’t going insane, and that last night really had happened, his hands fell limply over his chest and at his side, avoiding the dog altogether. 

Another whine was heard as the dog burrowed under Wonwoo’s hand, tail thumping excitedly against the sheets as Wonwoo caved in and pet him. Wonwoo groaned, seeing the time on his bedside clock and realizing that if he was going to be on time at all to his shift, he’d have to take the dog to a shelter in a half an hour. That didn’t leave him much time to get ready.

Wonwoo had decided last night that he had to drop the dog off at a shelter, knowing that they weren’t exactly the best place to leave a dog, but it was better than the streets, right? And Wonwoo just couldn’t keep him. First off, he didn’t want to, but if push came to shove and he had to, he wouldn’t have been able to. He was away at work for most of the day, and when he wasn’t he was sleeping and out running errands. He didn’t have free time for a dog. That’s why he hadn’t gotten a cat. He’d had one before, a small ginger one but she had passed away right before Wonwoo moved out of his parents house. He didn’t want to cage a poor animal in his home all day if he wasn’t ever going to be there to take care of it, dog or cat. 

So he reluctantly got out of bed, pulling his work uniform out of the laundry and sliding it on. There was a small brown cat on the apron that he wore, and the dog woofed gently, pawing at the cat and then bumping his muzzle into Wonwoo’s chin.

Wonwoo halfheartedly pet the dog, feeling guilty that he’d just up and abandon him in an hour, but also secretly glad to be getting rid of the huge anxiety factor. He suddenly remembered the dog’s previously bleeding paw, grabbing it gently and peering at the bottom of it to see a small slash, but it was already healing. The dog woofed again, jumping down from the bed and sitting on Wonwoo’s feet, head leaning against his thigh.

Wonwoo slid out from under the dog, making his way into the kitchen. He groaned, realizing that he’d never cleaned up any of the messes that he’d made last night, but froze in shock when the bathroom, the kitchen, and the couch all appeared spotless. It wasn’t possible. He _never_ cleaned anything up last night. Or was he just so tired that he couldn’t remember doing it? Whatever, that must have been it. There was no other explanation. 

He had no idea what to feed the dog for breakfast, but caught on quickly to the dog’s inclination to the eggs and bacon that Wonwoo was making himself for breakfast. He knew that it probably wasn’t healthy for the dog, but he’d be damned if he didn’t give the dog a nice sendoff. After all the work that he’d put into this, he had to keep him happy.

He let the dog split his breakfast with him, once again hand feeding him bites of bacon and humming when the dog laid it’s head on Wonwoo’s thighs in between bites. Wonwoo was really going to feel guilty later.

Finally it was time for Wonwoo to leave, so he grabbed a spare collar that he had from the cafe, (cats were always escaping and it was handy to have one on you at all times just in case you had to round one up), adjusting it for size and clipping it around the dog’s neck. He tentatively hooked a finger under the dog’s collar, praying that the dog wouldn’t get upset with him and bite him. He got all the way to his car without the dog reacting at all, so he opened the back door, helping the dog up into the seat and shutting the door. When he opened the driver’s side door, the dog was there in the seat, tail wagging and smacking the middle console as he panted up at Wonwoo.

“Wait, no, you go in the back, back there,” Wonwoo gently pushed the dog back into the backseat, though as soon as he sat down the dog was once again in the front and was now occupying the passenger’s seat. Wonwoo sighed, just going with it for time’s sake. He’d clean off his seats later.

He drove slowly to the animal shelter, suddenly remembering the videos of dogs knowing that they were at the vet while in the car and flipping out. They were funny then, but what if the dog did the same thing for an animal shelter? What if he attacked Wonwoo?

Wonwoo winced as he pulled into the parking lot, the white sign spelling out _County Pound_ guilt-tripping him. The dog, as predicted, let out a low whine, climbing over the middle console to sit in Wonwoo’s lap, staring up at him with big, round, shiny puppy eyes.

Wonwoo sighed, “Don’t look at me like that. Come on, you have to go.” Wonwoo slid out of the driver’s seat, grabbing the dog’s collar to urge him out as well but the dog whined even more, skittering back and into the passenger’s seat. He curled up as far under the seat as he could go, whimpers filling the car and breaking Wonwoo’s heart.

Wonwoo crawled back into the driver’s seat, reaching to pull the dog out from under the seat by the collar but felt a sharp bite on his hand and heard a loud snarl, gasping and backing out of the car as quickly as possible, shutting the door firmly behind him as his chest heaved with adrenaline. 

\--

Under the seat of the car, Mingyu cursed his luck. He thought that the human liked him. He couldn’t believe that he was just gonna dump him at some pound. But at the same time, the guilt that he felt for biting the human was starting to overwhelm him, and if he was human at the moment, he’d probably be crying. The human had been nothing but nice to him so far, even going along and hand feeding him when Mingyu was overly picky, just to tease the human. But now Mingyu could hear the human’s rushed breaths and could almost see tears spilling down his cheeks. He should have known better, it was obvious that the human was scared of dogs. Or at least, of him. He hadn’t meant to scare the human. He crawled slowly out from under the seat, crossing to the driver’s seat and peering out the window. He pressed his muzzle up to the glass, seeing the human’s head lean back against the window, a low whine escaping his mouth. 

The human flinched at the sound, turning to stare at Mingyu with a terrified gaze. The human had his hand up to his face and Mingyu could see a small nick on it, blood seeping from the bite mark. He felt even worse. He nosed at the crack between the car wall and the door, whining when the human covered his hands with his sleeves, clearly afraid of being bitten again.

\--

Wonwoo took three deep breaths, counting to ten before he opened the door and screaming when the dog immediately jumped down from the driver’s seat, jumping up on his waist and nosing at his hands. Wonwoo backed away from the dog, hands shaking more than ever as he thought of what to do next.

The dog lowered its head, whining and trying to come near Wonwoo but he never let it, backing away and keeping his hands raised above his head. Wonwoo finally got in a position where he was able to grab the dog’s collar again, tears making their way to his eyes as the anxiety in his chest grew and grew with each passing second. He tried tugging the dog towards the pound but the dog dug his claws into the cement, resisting the momentum and staying put. Wonwoo tugged harder and harder, but so did the dog until Wonwoo heard popping, and looked back at the dog to see that it was _transforming_ , slowly becoming a _human_.

Wonwoo’s hand fell to his side as he stared, horrified, at the half dog, half man standing in front of him, wearing his clothes? 

The dogman was sitting, legs spread on the pavement and arms out behind him to support him. He looked up at Wonwoo, terrified, as he realized how crazy everything must have seemed to Wonwoo.

“What..What the fuc-”

“I can explain!” Mingyu sprung off of the pavement, grabbing Wonwoo’s wrist before Wonwoo had a chance to recoil. Wonwoo struggled against Mingyu’s grip but Mingyu brought him in even further, opening the door to the car behind him with one hand and wrestling him into the car. The closest door that he had found was the trunk. The way that they landed, Wonwoo was flat on his back with his head barely propped up against the wall, Mingyu sitting squarely on his lap and straddling his hips.

Wonwoo’s eyes were blown wide and his breathing was coming in heavy and fast, Mingyu’s hands came to rest on the man’s chest, “Please calm down. I won’t hurt you. I promise, you didn’t hurt me so I won’t hurt you. Please let me explain myself before you do anything crazy.”

Wonwoo didn’t quite know what to say. So he didn’t. He just nodded. The dogman repositioned himself on Wonwoo’s lap, and Wonwoo’s eyes were drawn to the black _dog ears_ sitting atop the man’s head. Jesus Christ.

“I’m a hybrid. I’m a dog hybrid. I was made in a lab. My mother was kidnapped and was tampered with so that I would have half dog dna when I was born. They used me in a trafficking ring, there are others like me. But the people that were supposed to transfer me weren’t very smart, and I escaped. One other hybrid escaped with me, but I don’t know where he went. I ran, I didn’t know where to go. I just ran with my head down until I got to the alley, but then you came and fed me and so when I saw you again I followed you, and that’s when you found me. I’m so so sorry for biting you, I didn’t mean to, I was just scared. Lemme see.” The dogman, er, hybrid, grabbed Wonwoo’s hand, inspecting the small cut and whining, just like he had when he was a dog.

“I’m so so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, I swear. I just.. I didn’t think you’d drop me at a pound. I thought you liked me, you liked me, right?”

Wonwoo’s mouth hung slightly open and he only stared at the dog hybrid on his lap.

Mingyu smiled softly, bringing a hand up to gently shut Wonwoo’s mouth, “Say something. You’re scaring me.”

Wonwoo blinked, finally, seeming to come to his senses. He said four short words, but they were enough to make Mingyu burst into laughter.

“You licked my face.”

“I’m sorry! It’s just a dog thing, it’s not bad, I was thanking you! I can tell you’re not a dog person, but come on, you don’t even know that?”

“Well of course I know that, but it’s different when you were a human in there the whole time!” Wonwoo’s hands shot up to wipe at his cheeks, as if he could wipe drool off from hours ago.

Mingyu laughed, hands once again resting gently on Wonwoo’s chest, “I’m Mingyu. By the way.”

“Wonwoo. So, um, what am I supposed to do with you now?”

Mingyu bit his lip, looking down at Wonwoo’s chest rather than into his eyes and curling his little puppy ears in on themselves.

“I was hoping that, um, you’d let me stay with you? Just for a little while, until I find somewhere else to hide, then I’ll leave you alone, I swear! I’ve already caused you enough trouble, I don’t want to be any more.”

Wonwoo sighed, eyes drifting back to the cut on his hand. Mingyu let out another whine, grabbing Wonwoo’s hand back and squeezing it tight, covering the blood. 

“I don’t know. I work all day, and I guess I could take shorter hours, I do a lot of overtime, but then I have errands to run, and I have a tiny home, and no idea how to take care of a dog, or a dog hybrid, whatever, I just don’t know what I _can_ do for you.”

Wonwoo had begun propping himself up, now sitting upright and Mingyu took full advantage of this, curling around him in a hug. 

“Please, please, _please_ , I’ll be good, I swear. I do want to spend time with you but you could take me with you on errands! I can hide my ears and tail and-” Mingyu stopped short when Wonwoo’s eyes grew wide, snorting when the human ducked around him to see his tail laying limply on his own leg, “and I’ll just look like another human, or you can get me a leash and bring me along as your dog! I swear, I’ll help around the house while you’re at work, and it won’t be like having a dog, it’ll be like having a roommate!”

Wonwoo sighed, “Mingyu, you have to think practically about this. You’ve already said that you want to spend time with me, that might not happen very often! And I hardly even know you! The closest we’ve ever gotten was you licking my face, that’s kinda weird, don’t you think?”

Mingyu laughed, but continued hiding his face in Wonwoo’s neck, “ _Please_ let me stay. Just for a few nights, and then if you don’t like it, then you can kick me out.”

Wonwoo sighed, “Fine. But this is insane. I’ve only just formally met you now, and I’ve only known you for a night. I’m telling you, this won’t work. You’ll get bored, and you’ll get tired of being neglected.”

“As long as you don’t neglect me on purpose, I can handle it. Just don’t shut me out.” Mingyu’s voice was strong, but it failed to hide how truly insecure he was about the whole situation. Wonwoo hugged Mingyu back for a few seconds, head still spinning slightly when Mingyu’s tail began wagging, smacking him in the thigh as it did so. 

Wonwoo, still somewhat apprehensive about the fact that the man now sitting on his lap was formerly a stray dog that he’d taken in for the night, turned human man because of a sick and twisted trafficking ring, pulled back from the hug after only a few seconds, quickly realizing that they were trapped in the trunk.

Mingyu and Wonwoo met eyes, both muttering the same phrase in unison, “Oh no.”

\--

“And tell me again sir,” The fire chief’s eyes were glaring holes into Wonwoo’s own, “How did you get locked in your trunk?”

Wonwoo’s cheeks were lit up bright red, his eyes downcast as he stuttered, “We fell.”

“You and your dog,” The chief’s eyes barely left Wonwoo’s for one second to glare down at Mingyu too, the back at Wonwoo, “Fell?”

“Yes.” Wonwoo said, with much more confidence than he actually had.

“Mhm. And so after you _and_ your dog fell, you closed the door?”

“I grabbed it to stabilize myself.”

“It didn’t seem to work.” Wonwoo was starting to really not like this fireman. 

“No. It didn’t work.” Wonwoo felt Mingyu’s wet nose nudge into his hand and he flinched slightly, relaxing soon after and running a tentative hand over the dog’s ears. It felt even more wrong now that he knew Mingyu was a hybrid. But he tried not to let it affect him, knowing that it would probably be another red flag to the fire chief if his dog was trying to get his attention and Wonwoo did nothing.

“Look, I’m gonna let you leave, but you’re obviously lying, and I don’t know why. If it’s something illegal, we will find out. You’re free to go now, sir.”

Wonwoo nodded, thanking the fire chief in a weak voice and rushing to the driver’s side door, letting Mingyu jump into the seat first and climb over to the passenger’s seat. Wonwoo put the car in reverse and backed out of the spot, just barely not speeding away because the fire chief was still there watching him looking very unamused.

Once they were at least two streets away Wonwoo finally breathed, exhaling long and slow while keeping his eyes fixed on the road. Wonwoo heard a rather loud popping sound and realized that Mingyu was transforming again, right in front of everyone else on the road beside them. 

“Mingyu! What are you doing?!” Wonwoo’s knuckles turned white as he kept looking straight ahead, refusing to take his eyes off of the road for fear of being distracted by Mingyu. 

“I’m shifting! He can’t see us now.” Wonwoo was fairly certain he could _hear_ the grin in Mingyu’s voice.

“But now everyone else can!”

Mingyu looked around at the single other car on the freeway beside them, “No one is here.”

“You have to be careful Mingyu. Someone is gonna see you, and you’re gonna get in trouble.”

“Don’t worry about it! No one’s gonna know, anyways.”

Mingyu’s nonchalant words were punctuated with a jarring smash as a car seemingly appeared out of nowhere, ramming into the side of Wonwoo’s car and sending the small vehicle flying off of the road and tumbling onto the shoulder beside it. Wonwoo and Mingyu screamed in unison, Wonwoo’s being cut off as his head hit the dashboard and barely avoided cracking entirely open. Blood trickled down his forehead and his eyes closed, air leaving his lungs and body going limp against the seatbelt that had miraculously stayed intact. Mingyu saw Wonwoo go unconscious, screams still flowing from his lips as he wrestled against his own seatbelt, thankfully having strapped himself in just before the crash. He managed to wriggle his way out of the bindings, the seatbelt’s release button having been warped and mutilated to the point of no return in the chaos. He made his way through the smashed, disfigured car, sliding over what used to be the center console and over towards Wonwoo on the other side.

“Wonwoo! Wonwoo, wake up! Please, _please_ Wonwoo, wake up!” Mingyu’s shouts grew more desperate with every second that Wonwoo didn’t answer them, his hands coming up to cup the wound currently spilling blood on Wonwoo’s forehead. He tore off a piece of the shirt that he was wearing, using it to soak up the blood and put pressure on the wound. He had no idea if that was what he was supposed to do, but he had to do something. Wonwoo’s face was pale and lifeless, and Mingyu’s heart sank further and further as he desperately tried reviving the man. He laid a shaking hand on the man’s cheek, tugging his face to be angled towards himself.

“Wonwoo, _please_ , you gotta wake up. We were supposed to live together. You were supposed to start to like me. A-And then by the end you wouldn’t be so scared around me, _please_ , you have to wake up, you can’t be dead!”

In a desperate attempt to revive the human, Mingyu surged forwards, tears wetting his cheeks as he gently pressed his lips against Wonwoo’s own. It had to work, Sleeping Beauty had awoken, right? And Wonwoo was about as beautiful as you could get, his sharp features somehow creating a soft aura about him. Mingyu broke away from the kiss, a sob escaping his lips as he let his head fall onto Wonwoo’s chest. 

Mingyu’s mind hadn’t even processed the car crash yet, still reeling at the sight of Wonwoo laying near lifeless before him and Mingyu being unable to do anything to help him. But the door to the passenger’s side was ripped open and Mingyu’s heart leapt, maybe it was someone coming to rescue them! They could save Wonwoo!

But as the face ducked into the car and sneered down at Mingyu he knew that it was not an accident, it was attempted murder.

“Hello, Mingyu.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **This chapter has graphic descriptions of violence**  
>  I hope you like the end of Meanie's side of the story!!! I know I left the last chapter off on a bit of a cliffhanger, I'm so sorry! The remaining chapters will be Verkwan's side, my apologies that the chapters for Verkwan are a bit shorter than the ones for Meanie ;-;

Mingyu’s eyes slowly blinked open and his head was already pounding. He tried remembering the last thing that had happened, and his eyes went wide, breath catching in his throat as he remembered that Wonwoo knew about him being a hybrid now. Wonwoo, Wonwoo! Mingyu shot upright, smacking his head on something hard and metal above him. He groaned, ducking back down and peering up at what he’d hit. It seemed to be a cage. He looked around groggily, seeing a figure laying flat on a table beside him. Mingyu slid to the side of his cage, (not a far journey), and peered closer at the face. It was Wonwoo. 

Mingyu immediately tried finding an escape from his cage, rattling the bars and trying to slip through them. But he was too noisy, hearing footsteps running down the hall towards his room and backing away from the door, up against the back wall of his cage. A man stepped in, the same one from earlier that had hit them, the same sneer on his face too.

“Ah, you’re awake! I presume you’ve seen your friend’s predicament?” The man gestured to Wonwoo, still laying lifeless on the table.

“Let him go.” Mingyu growled, straining as hard as he could against the metal bars but it was of no use, only tiring him out and making him feel more desperate. 

“Stop struggling, _idiot_ , you’re not strong enough to bend metal. You’re not even strong enough to keep your friend safe.” The man sneered, gripping Wonwoo’s wrist in his own and jerking it upwards. Wonwoo’s arms were held to the table in metal cuffs, so the sharp tug on his hand cut a fairly large slit into Wonwoo’s wrist. Mingyu yelped, reaching as far as he could outside of his cage before realizing that it was hopeless.

The man looked pleased with Mingyu’s defeat,crouching down beside Mingyu’s cage.

“You’re not going to be able to help him. You’re too weak.”

Mingyu snarled, hand coming up fast to grab the man’s shirt and tug him forwards to slam against the bars of his cage. He jerked the man back and forth, repeatedly pounding the man into the metal bars. The man groaned, both hands coming up to claw at Mingyu’s grip on his shirt. He managed to slip from the dog hybrid’s hold, scrambling away from the cage.

He rose to his feet, spitting his words at Mingyu with a smirk, “The more you hurt me, the more I hurt him. Should we go for a rib, next?” The man walked tantalizingly towards Wonwoo, still unconscious on the table with blood dripping down his hand, grabbing a metal bar from where it was laying beside the table and hovering it teasingly over Wonwoo’s abdomen.

“No! Leave him _alone_!” Mingyu, once again, tried scrambling out of the cage but it got him nowhere, and he had to watch as his actions brought consequences for poor Wonwoo. The man raised the bar above his head, slamming it down onto Wonwoo’s stomach with all of the force that he could. Mingyu could _hear_ a crack, tears slipping from his eyes as he realized that, not only had he caused this, but he couldn’t fix it either. He was completely helpless.

Mingyu was glad that he couldn’t see Wonwoo’s face, because he didn’t want to see it. He didn’t want to look at Wonwoo, and see his mistakes. He didn’t want to look at Wonwoo and see what he couldn’t prevent. 

The man ducked out of the door, calling for more people down the hallway. He began un-cuffing Wonwoo from the table, ignoring the wounds on him and signaling for two of the men that rushed inside to grab him.

“You, get him, and the rest of you, get that one.” The man pointed at Mingyu, still cramped in that little cage in the corner, “He’s feisty. And if he tries to hurt you at all, let me know, he needs to learn to _mind his manners._ ” 

Mingyu barely had time to think before his cage was displaced, grabbed from behind and hauled along out of the room and down the hallway. He kept his eyes firmly on Wonwoo, watching as the men quite literally chucked him into a room with the door open.Mingyu screamed, scrambling to the side of the cage to try to see where and how the man had landed but the cage door swung open and it was thrust forwards, throwing Mingyu out of it and onto a hard concrete floor. He barely had time to adjust to his surroundings before he heard the door slam in his face and then total silence.

He struggled to his knees, head spinning from being thrown so hard onto concrete. Though his skull was probably bleeding, head pounding with pain, he managed to see Wonwoo laying on the ground beside him through his teary eyes, letting out a sob before he collapsed. 

His strength was near gone, senses on overload and brain confused as he was still dizzy from his fall. He was able to reach his hand out, inching it forwards over the concrete and squeezing Wonwoo’s tight in his own. 

\--

Wonwoo’s eyes were barely able to flutter open before he was in blinding pain. A cry escaped his parted lips as his abdomen throbbed with pain. The pain of simply breathing was almost too much to handle. His eyes were scrunched shut so he couldn’t see anything but he felt someone squeeze his hand, then there was a soft touch on his cheek. He cracked his eyes open to see a face hovering over his own, but his brain wasn’t yet functioning enough to recognize who it was.

His senses slowly kicked in and he finally began hearing what the person above him was saying.

“-nwoo! Wonwoo! You’re alive, oh thank god! I’m so sorry, this is all my fault! It’s all my fault Wonwoo I’m so sorry!” Wonwoo put his hands out before him, gently pushing the person in his face to sit across from him as he hauled himself upright. His chest ached with the movements but the man in front of him rushed forwards to help him sit propped up against a wall. 

Wonwoo tipped his head back, letting out a shallow breath and closing his eyes. MIngyu sat before him, crouched down even though his knees burned with fresh scrapes from being thrown. 

“Do.. Do you remember me Wonwoo?” Mingyu’s voice shook, pleading with fate that Wonwoo didn’t develop amnesia from the crash, he had hit his head _really_ hard.

“Just give me a minute, I can’t even breathe without hurting.” Wonwoo’s words were strained as his face was screwed up in pain, Mingyu nodded, a few more tears sliding down his cheeks which he hastily wiped away. He sat crouched before Wonwoo for a few minutes before the man’s breathing was finally steady again, though the man’s cheeks glistened with tears that Mingyu had to hold himself back from wiping away. He didn’t want to overload Wonwoo.

Mingyu heard footsteps approaching the door again and tensed, raising himself into a standing position and standing guard before Wonwoo. The door swung open, big metal frame smacking the wall and clanging. Wonwoo’s eyes were open in alarm at the noise but all he was able to see was a man standing in front of him, facing the door.

“Move it mutt, I’m not supposed to touch you. They are.” The man in the doorway jerked his thumb behind him, gesturing to two more men behind him. One had a slip collar in his hand and the other a muzzle, merely a mask with wire caging around where Mingyu’s mouth would be. The men immediately advanced towards Mingyu, backing him slowly into a corner. Mingyu’s chest began rising and falling more rapidly, a snarl erupting from his throat as he realized how drained and weak he was. 

One of the men grabbed his arm, using it to swing him around and tug him into a tight embrace. Mingyu struggled as best he could against their grip but it was futile, he was still drained from the car crash, then struggling earlier to get out of that awful crate, so he left his head fall forwards and tears drip down his cheeks. He gasped for breath, not seeing how Wonwoo stumbled to his feet.

“Hey, get off of him, leave him alone!” Wonwoo fell forwards slightly as he tried shoving the men off of Mingyu, though an arm slung tight around his throat pulled him backwards and away from Mingyu quickly after he stood. Mingyu looked up at Wonwoo’s words, seeing him clawing at the arm around his throat, desperately trying to get air back into his lungs. Mingyu took a deep breath, gathering all of his remaining energy and tearing himself away from his captors. The muzzle was now securely tightened around his mouth, metal bars and leather straps digging painfully into his skin. He could already feel blood dripping down his chin from the cuts he was surely receiving from the muzzle.

He ran across the room, grabbing the arm that was still squeezing Wonwoo’s throat and yanking it away. His sharp nails left long gashes on the man’s arm, rendering him useless for a few moments due to the pain. Mingyu grabbed Wonwoo’s arm, making a break for the door. Freedom was at the fingertips for a fleeting moment, until the great metal door slammed in their faces. Mingyu ran into it, tugging Wonwoo behind him and backing the man all the way into the door. 

Mingyu threw his hands out to his sides, setting his palms up against the door and keeping Wonwoo sheltered behind his emaciated form. His eyes were wide and frantic, darting around to the various men that were now approaching them, weapons and restraints in hand. One came at Mingyu with the collar again, and now Mingyu saw sharp, metal spikes lining the inside of the fabric. Once it was on his neck, it would dig into his skin. A whine broke from his throat as he realized he was once again cornered, but he felt Wonwoo’s hand slowly slide behind his, intertwining their fingers against the metal door of the cell.

Mingyu felt tears prick at his eyes as he let his hand fall to his side, Wonwoo’s hand falling with it as Mingyu turned his head. Mingyu’s eyes shut tight though tears never stopped seeping from them, dripping down his cheeks and staining his-Wonwoo’s shirt. He angled his head slightly downwards, nudging his nose into Wonwoo’s and feeling his hands begin to shake. Wonwoo was the only person that had ever shown Mingyu any sort of kindness, he’d taken some ratty street dog in even though he was clearly terrified. And now Wonwoo might die because of him. 

Mingyu’s whisper came out cracked and broken but Wonwoo heard it all the same, “ _Please_ don’t hate me.”

Wonwoo, though his brain was still frantically scrambling to try and figure out who these men were, and why they wanted to hurt him and Mingyu, moved his arm to wrap around Mingyu’s waist, shifting his head so that his lips landed beside Mingyu’s ear.

“Never.”

Mingyu finally let his sobs break through and he spun around, head burying itself in Wonwoo’s chest. He felt Wonwoo’s arms wrap around him in a tight embrace for only a split second before he felt other arms, ones on his legs and ones around his biceps, hauling him backwards. He wailed and thrashed in the mens’ hold, hands desperately reaching out for some sort, any sort of contact with Wonwoo, but when he peeked his red, swollen eyes open the human was being dragged away from the door, chained to a chair in the corner. 

Mingyu’s breath caught in his throat as he felt the men wrap the thick leather collar around his neck, metal spikes already digging painfully into his neck. The pain from that combined with the pain from the muzzle still cementing itself into Mingyu’s skin, blood meshing with sweat and tears as they slid down his chin.

Wonwoo let himself be strapped into the chair, though apprehensively eyeing the cuffs that he was strapped down with and wincing when the band lined up with his cut from earlier. 

Mingyu sniffled, dry sobs still wracking his frame as the men dragged him up against the wall. They strapped him into chains that gave him a surprising five feet of give. He went as far as he could, fingers stretching until he was strained and stretched to his limits, a tantalizing six inches from Wonwoo. The human saw what Mingyu was doing, stretching his own hand out, but it was no use, his arms were strapped in tight and there was no way he could stretch that far. Mingyu was left to crouch there, tears now dripping from his eyes onto the floor, pooling on the dirty concrete.

The great metal door swung open and Mingyu’s head jerked to the side, teeth baring as a thundering growl left his lips. The man stepped inside, kicking Mingyu back towards the wall and standing beside Wonwoo’s chair.

“Mingyu, are you wondering why I waited until now to strike? You know, I could have had you back here the second you ran from that truck, you weren’t clever. You didn’t escape. You may have slipped through my guards’ fingers but I assure you, I could have taken you back within an hour. However, I didn’t. I decided to wait until you’d settled in. This happened faster than I thought. Because you’re a simple creature, Mingyu. Someone shows you an _ounce_ of kindness, and you’re ready to lay down your life for them. How is that working out for you now?”

The man tangled his fingers in Wonwoo’s hair, yanking the black strands to the side and exposing Wonwoo’s neck. Mingyu shouted in protest, watching Wonwoo’s face screw up in pain. The human took several deep breaths, trying to slowly tug his head back upright but the man slapped him hard across the cheek, eliciting a hiss of pain from Wonwoo, who stilled. Mingyu watched in horror as the man drew out a knife from his pocket, positioning it over Wonwoo’s pale neck.

“Mingyu, the day I made you, the day I put that dna into your filthy mother, the day you were destined to be abnormal and wretched, I made another. Mingyu and Seungkwan. You were raised as brothers. And that night, the night that you escaped, he was with you. You both ran, but you ran farther. You abandoned your brother, and now no one knows where he is. He is valuable to me. And you’re going to pay for letting him get away.”

The man punctuated his words with a sharp slit down the side of Wonwoo’s neck, one that sent a cry falling from Wonwoo’s lips as he squeezed his eyes shut in pain. Mingyu let out a gut-wrenching cry, once again straining as hard as he could to reach Wonwoo from his chains. 

“Fine! Fine! Make me pay, hurt me, kill me, I don’t care! Just don’t touch him!” Tears streamed pitifully down Mingyu’s face and onto the man’s shoe and for a moment Mingyu thought he was going to be kicked again. 

“No. I want to hurt you. Physically hurting you won’t emotionally hurt you. It won’t _really_ hurt you. But like I said before, Mingyu, you’re a simple creature. You’ve never felt any sort of care or love from anyone but your own brother and now that someone’s given it to you, you’ve fallen hard. You’re in love with this man, all because he took pity on a beast. You’re a fool, Mingyu. And now you get to watch as he takes the pain for you.”

The man plunged the knife down into Wonwoo’s skin, blade digging into the place where Wonwoo’s shoulder met his neck. His mouth fell open and he gasped in pain, causing Mingyu to avert his eyes as more tears slipped from them. Mingyu clenched his eyes shut but felt a hand harshly grip his jaw, forcing his head up and facing it towards Wonwoo. Another hand came to prod at his eyes, forcing them open and holding his head still. Mingyu strained against the man’s grip, eyes burning at the sight of Wonwoo’s anguish. As soon as the base of the knife’s blade met Wonwoo’s skin the man tore it out of Wonwoo altogether, throwing it aside. 

“I’m going to come in here, and I’m going to ruin you and your _savior_ , every day until we find Seungkwan. You, I could care less about. You’re too much trouble. You’ve already shown me that you’re never going to profit me. But he can. You’re the reason he escaped, and now you’re paying for your mistakes.” 

The man motioned for Wonwoo to be unchained, watching Mingyu carefully in case he tried fighting any of his workers. If Mingyu fought back, Wonwoo took the pain, and he was _more_ than happy to teach Mingyu a lesson about respect. Finally the human was released from the cuffs binding him to the chair, slumping forwards slightly and letting his arms fall from the arms of the chair. His neck was still practically gushing blood, the cut deep and painful for Wonwoo.

The man let himself out before motioning for the guards to unchain Mingyu, mouth curling into a small sneer as Mingyu skittered across the room the second he was unchained. Mingyu clumsily rose to his feet, hands already reaching for the wound on Wonwoo’s neck. The man let his guards out, no one remembering the knife still discarded on the floor before the door was shut and locked again. 

\--

“Wonwoo, Wonwoo this is _bad_.” Mingyu’s fingers gently prodded at the area around Wonwoo’s gash, lip trembling as Wonwoo hissed in pain.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, it doesn’t hurt that bad.”

Mingyu bent over, angling his head to be parallel to Wonwoo’s and raising an eyebrow, “Wonwoo, he stabbed you.”

“I know, I know, I just think we have bigger things to worry about, how are we gonna get out of here?”

Mingyu sighed, tearing his eyes away from Wonwoo’s injury and looking around the dirty cell. The door had no gap between the bottom and the door, so that was useless, and the lock was definitely secure. 

Mingyu bit his lip, looking once more at the stab wound in Wonwoo’s neck before crossing the small room to the door. He mustered up all the strength that he could, backing up to the other wall of the cell opposite the door and ramming himself into the metal slab. The door definitely was solid, sending Mingyu tumbling to the ground with a groan. 

Wonwoo stood from the chair, trembling from the pain of his wound as he dropped to the ground, kneeling beside Mingyu’s fallen form. 

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I think so. Not my best plan.”

“Well, compared to posing as a pet until I noticed, transforming in the middle of a busy street, consequentially alerting these heathens to your presence, it’s not too bad.”

Mingyu groaned, looking up at Wonwoo pitifully, “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault, all of it. If I’d never made you take me in you wouldn’t even be here, I’m so stupid and now we might die here, oh my god, we might _die_ here. I’m so sor-”

“Mingyu! Don’t waste your energy apologizing. It’s not like you meant for this to happen. We have to figure out how to escape, let’s not waste time. And even if you hadn’t been on my doorstep, meaning that I wouldn’t be here, _you_ would still be here, and that’s still a problem.” 

Wonwoo adjusted his position, sitting back on his legs keeping his calves flat on the ground. His eyes drifted past Mingyu’s head for a moment and locked onto a glint of silver in the corner, “Mingyu, the knife!” 

Mingyu’s head shot up, eyes locking onto the discarded dagger, “Wonwoo, this is it! This is our ticket out!”

Wonwoo scrambled to his feet, fingers meeting the cool surface of the dagger’s handle. He grimaced at his own blood that coated the blade, taking his (already dirty and torn) shirt hem and wiping the handle clean. There laid a bloodstain on Wonwoo’s shirt, practically taunting him as they sat in confinement.

“Okay, so we have the knife, but what’s our plan? We can’t just _have_ it and magically escape, we gotta know what we’re doing. There’s no room for error, we can’t mess this up. Once they know we have it, they’ll take it, and won’t be so sloppy again. We have one shot, what are we doing with it?” Wonwoo weighed the dagger in his palm, neck still throbbing in pain from when it had been inside of his flesh earlier. 

:I dunno. Stab ‘n’ run?” 

Wonwoo snorted, “That might work. But what if we run into more guards?”

“Stab. And. Run.”

“Okay, well don’t you think we should weigh other options as well? I mean what if Stab ‘n’ Run doesn’t work as well as something else, we should-”

Footsteps sounded down the hallway and Wonwoo fumbled to slide the dagger into the waistband of his pants. The blade pressed against his tummy but he ignored the near cut, making sure that the silver was hidden from sight.

Wonwoo and Mingyu waited in silence to see if the person would walk past them but the lock on the door began turning and Mingyu looked at Wonwoo with wide eyes.

“Stab ‘n’ Run?”

“Stab ‘n’ Run.”

The door swung open and a guard walked in, carrying two plates of what Wonwoo could honestly say looked like hot garbage. It was hot, steaming, actually, but the color, a murky brown, the consistency, thick and near-gelatinous. It was not meant for consumption. Both men carefully stood, Wonwoo’s neck still aching from the open wound.

“I’ve been sent to bring you your-Aah!” Wonwoo wasted no time in grabbing the knife from his waistband, using the man’s momentary glance down at the plates to plunge the knife into his stomach. Mingyu covered the man’s mouth, attempting to hold in his screams so that no one else was alerted. The guard fell to his knees, shaky hands coming to cover the wound on his abdomen while Wonwoo hastily shoved the knife back in his waistband and grabbed Mingyu’s hand. The two men ran, tugging the cell door closed behind them and clicking the padlock shut. Wonwoo tried remembering where they were in the building but realized that he would be of absolutely no help, letting Mingyu pull him down a hallway. 

“This is definitely where we came from! I at least know how to get us back to- Wonwoo, hurry!” Wonwoo had seconds notice before an arm was once more tightly wrapped around his throat, a patrolling guard that caught them in the act.

“I don’t think _you’re_ supposed to be here, are you?”

Mingyu plucked the knife from Wonwoo’s waistband, jamming it in the guard’s back and shoving him over as he fell to the ground. Mingyu grabbed Wonwoo’s hand, freezing up before he could go anywhere.

“Oh my god, I just stabbed someone, I just _killed_ someone, Wonwoo-”

“There’s no time for that! Come on, let’s get out!” Wonwoo dragged Mingyu down the hallway that they’d started down, asking the dog hybrid for directions when needed. Shortly, they were back in the room where Mingyu had woken up, and now neither knew where to go.

“Oh god, okay. I know this building, and I know how I was transported out. It just wasn’t from this room. If I could just find,” Mingyu wandered around the space, prodding at equipment and lifting stacks of papers up. 

Wonwoo watched as Mingyu hummed a melody, fingers dancing over the keys on the computer sitting in the corner and assuming that he was looking for a digital map of the place. Mingyu stepped away from the computer, though his humming continued as he wandered through the room until he reached a door on the other side. He slowly swung open the metal door, “Aha. Here it is. Okay, so if we go through here-”

“I told you you couldn’t escape from me.” The voice sent chills down both men’s spines and they turned slowly, seeing the haughty sneer of their captor. 

Mingyu realized that there was no way to get in between Wonwoo and the man, mentally pleading that Wonwoo be left alone. 

“Now, neither of you will get hurt,” The man paused, “Badly, if you come with me right now. There’s really no other choice, boys. Come with me, or die.”

Mingyu’s eyes filled with tears again as he realized that the man was right, he wasn’t strong enough to save himself, let alone Wonwoo. He hung his head, shuffling towards the man and letting guards rush in and cuff him.

“Wonwoo?” The man Mingyu called for was in for the same fate, wrists wrapping in silver as he let them hang behind his back.

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.”

\--

Mingyu kept his head down while guards led him and Wonwoo back to their cell, every muscle in his body aching from the crash of the adrenaline rush and the effort that he’d exerted. He felt tears prick at his eyes once more but he shoved them down, breathing deeply instead. His ears perked slightly as he picked up whispers from a hallway that they passed, but no one else managed to hear them. He braced himself, having a mere two seconds to prepare before he heard a rousing _“Now!”_ and he was knocked to the ground, the guard holding him hitting the ground hard. Mingyu heard Wonwoo shout as he, too, fell, and he was back on his feet in seconds to help Wonwoo up. 

Mingyu bent backwards as best he could, grabbing the key from the now unconscious guard’s belt. He handed them to Wonwoo, unlocking the man’s cuffs when Wonwoo did so for him. Finally the pair turned, seeing Seungkwan with his claws poised tantalizingly over their creator’s throat, ready to puncture the skin at a moment's notice. There was also another man standing there, struggling a little more than Seungkwan was to restrain the guard that he had knocked over. Wonwoo saw that the guard was about to kick the other man and he jutted his foot up, nailing the guard between the legs. The guard fell, Wonwoo’s combat boots not having felt great. 

Wonwoo kept his eye on the fallen guard, making sure that he wasn’t getting back up again, though his focus was mainly directed towards the boy holding their captor, well, captive, cat ears twitching on his head. 

“Yell, and I rip your throat out. Move, and I rip your throat out. Try to signal in any way that you’re in danger, and I rip your throat out. Don’t make me rip your throat out, it would take so long to get your blood out from under my nails.” 

“Seungkwan,” The catboy’s claws twitched closer to the man’s throat at his words, “You’ve become so feisty! When I saw you last, you flinched away when I walked in the room. What happened?”

“I woke up, and I had changed.” Seungkwan glanced at the man he’d brought with him, light blush dusting his cheeks as they grinned at each other. “But that’s not why we’re here, we’re here because you clearly don’t know when to quit.”

The man in Seungkwan’s grasp laughed, a bark-like sound that made Seungkwan’s nails contract even harder, now just seconds away from breaking skin.

“ _I_ don’t know when to quit? Seungkwan, you shouldn’t have come back. You played _right_ into my hands, this is exactly what I wanted to happen.”

“Things don’t seem to be going in your favor.” Wonwoo mused, watching the man’s eyes flash with the tiniest hint of fear before they were back to cocky overconfidence. 

“This is all part of my plan, soon you’ll be back in cells and I can finally use Seungkwan and Mingyu like they were meant to be used, I’ll be the richest man-” His sentence was cut off with a gargle, muscles tensing as Seungkwan’s claws finally punctured the skin of his neck. Seungkwan wasted no time, digging them as far in as he could before retracting them, letting the man fall to the ground. 

Wonwoo quickly sidestepped so that the man didn’t fall directly on him, accidentally bumping into the man that Seungkwan had brought with him. He apologized, nudging their fallen captor over with the toe of his boot so that he could stand in his former spot. 

“Okay, so, I just killed a man, and I don’t know what to do with that information.” Seungkwan looked down at the blood on his hands, dripping down onto the filthy concrete floor.

“Let’s just focus on getting out of here, do you guys remember where you came in from?” Wonwoo stepped forward, resisting the urge to step on their captor and instead stepping over him. Mingyu trailed close behind Wonwoo, eyes darting in every direction to be sure that no one else was coming.

Seungkwan and his friend stayed quiet the whole time, only mumbling to themselves about figuring out where they’d come from. Within minutes Seungkwan was pushing open a door and daylight flooded into the musty hallway, letting each of the four men escape.

They wasted no time, Mingyu grabbing Wonwoo’s hand and bolting down the street. Seungkwan grabbed the other man’s hand, tearing after them and trailing after them until they reached a densely populated shopping center. They ducked into a bathroom, piling into a large stall and making sure that they hadn’t been followed.

“Jesus, that looks really bad. What happened?”

“Ah, I got stabbed. Just a little!” Wonwoo remembered the cut between his shoulder and his neck, wincing as it burned with movement. 

“Just a little? It’s actively bleeding, how long ago was it?”

“An hour or two? I dunno, I have no concept of time anymore.” Wonwoo trailed off, seeing someone enter the bathroom. The four men waited with bated breath, sighing in relief when the intruder turned out to be just another shopper. He left and the four were able to speak freely again.

“Well I live pretty close, I can take you guys to my house and get you patched up, if you want? Ah, I’m Hansol, by the way.” The man that Seungkwan had brought with him finally revealed himself, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly as Mingyu fought to unlock the stall door.

“Are you sure you don’t mind? I mean I don’t live _super_ far, I’m sure we’ll be fine, I don’t want to intrude.” Wonwoo raised an eyebrow, the pain in his neck begging him to go with Hansol but the introvert in his soul begging him to just go home.

“No no, you need some help with that. Honestly you should probably go to the hospital, but I don’t think you want the questions that are gonna come with that. I have a friend who’s a med student, I can call him over and ask him for help.”

“Okay, thank you. Do you um, did you drive there? Or are we walking.”

“We just walked, my house is literally like two minutes from here.” Hansol pushed open the door of the stall, checking to be sure that there was no one in the bathroom before ushering everyone out. Seungkwan was quick to take his jacket off, draping it over Wonwoo’s shoulder to cover his wound. Wonwoo winced as the wound stung with the contact of the fabric but thanked Seungkwan, not wanting the entirety of the shopping center to know that he was near fatally wounded.

Mingyu clutched Wonwoo’s hand tight, legs like jelly as he came down from his adrenaline high. Wonwoo noticed a slit on the back of Mingyu’s ankle, moving each time he stepped forwards. Wonwoo wrapped his arm around Mingyu’s shoulders, letting the dog hybrid relieve the weight off of his injured leg and gingerly step on it instead, using Wonwoo for balance. Mingyu was careful to avoid the wound on Wonwoo’s shoulder, eyes threatening to spill with tears each time he looked at it.

They finally arrived at Hansol’s house, battered and bruised as they were, nearly fainting from exhaustion as they waited for Hansol to fish the key out of his pocket and jam it into the door. Seungkwan dashed in first, clearing a spot on Hansol’s couch so that Mingyu and Wonwoo could collectively plop down together. Hansol locked the door behind him, plucking a first aid kit from beneath the bathroom sink and bringing it back out to the living room. 

Hansol looked down at the contents inside the kit, seeing a small roll of gauze and a few disinfectant wipes, “Uh, this might not be enough for, well, that.” He pointed at Wonwoo’s gaping shoulder wound, eyes drifting over the cut on Mingyu’s ankle as well. 

“Is your friend going to bring stuff?” Wonwoo could barely keep his eyes open, a combination of a post-adrenaline rush and the pain blossoming in his shoulder threatening to weigh them shut. 

“No, I mentioned that I had stuff already, I’ll just go get some more. There’s a convenience store just around the corner. I’ll drive, Seungkwan can come with me, and you two can have a few minutes alone. We won't be longer than fifteen minutes, my friend might get here a few minutes before me but I don’t think so. His name is Seungcheol, he’s got a key so he’ll probably just walk in if he gets here early. You guys good?”

Wonwoo nodded, giving Hansol a small smile for reassurance. He wasn’t sure he had strength for much more.

Hansol grabbed his keys from where he’d set them down on the counter, taking Seungkwan’s hand in his own and ducking out to his garage. The door shut behind him and Mingyu was gasping for breath, tears flooding down his cheeks and pooling on his shirt, darkening the fabric.

Wonwoo spluttered, “What’s wrong? What happened?! Is it your ankle?”

Mingyu shook his head, burying his tear-streaked face in his hands, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry, this is all my fault! If I had just been more careful, if I had just thought before I had-”

“Mingyu! It’s okay! Sure we got a little scuffed up along the way, but now the man who held you hostage for years and years is hopefully dead and he can’t hurt anyone anymore, including you or Seungkwan! It was worth it, the reward was bigger than the cost.”

“But you’re _hurt_ , you’re all bloody and scraped and it’s all my fault!” Mingyu felt Wonwoo tear his hands away from his face, holding the dog hybrid’s wrists tightly in his own.

“Mingyu. I’m okay. I promise. Please don’t worry about me. You got hurt too, you know. You survived that man for _years_ Mingyu. You’re strong, you’re so strong.”

“But if I was just stronger-”

“No. Stop it Mingyu. You’re so strong, I’m so amazed that you were able to survive for that long like that. How did you do it, hmm? How were you so strong?” Wonwoo’s thumbs began to brush over the apples of Mingyu’s cheeks, wiping the tears away and keeping his face a hair’s breadth away from Mingyu’s own.

Mingyu took a deep breath, peeling his eyes back open to stare into Wonwoo’s piercing ones, “Seungkwan used to sing to me. We had a lot of time together in the cage and he really liked humming when we were kids and eventually he just ended up starting to sing, and he’s _so_ good at it, and then he started making up little melodies, and there was this one that was my favorite, he called it Second Life. He promised me that we’d both have a second life, a second chance as soon as we escaped.”

“And was he right?”

“What?”

“Did you get a second life? A second chance?”

“Wonwoo?”

“Yes?”

“Will you be my second life?”

Wonwoo wasted no time before his lips were on Mingyu’s, pressing against the younger man’s and making him gasp slightly. Wonwoo hummed at the sensation, letting Mingyu slowly pull himself away to gaze into Wonwoo’s eyes.

“So I’ll take that as a yes?” Mingyu grinned, pointed canines glinting in the low light of Hansol’s house. Wonwoo chuckled, running a hand through his hair as his cheeks blushed scarlet. He guessed he had been a little forward. But, it was worth it. This was Mingyu’s second life, and Wonwoo was going to make damn sure it was a good one.


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! I'm so sorry this chapter is a day late, I hope you enjoy ;-;

Hansol’s mother had always taught him to _just keep driving_ if there was ever an animal in his path. If he swerved to avoid it, he’d most likely end up flipping, spinning out, or hitting someone. 

But Hansol was not going to sit there and run over a cat. It was not going to happen. So he did exactly what he wasn’t supposed to do, jerking the wheel of the car to the side and slamming on his brakes. The car slid to a stop, headlights illuminating the vast field beside the freeway that Hansol was taking to get home. Thankfully, there weren’t many people behind Hansol, as it was rather late, and those that were behind him merely honked and swerved to get around him. 

Hansol barely batted an eye at the honking, adrenaline already rushing through him from skidding to a stop. He shakily stepped out of the car, seeing the tiniest kitten he’d ever seen, trembling with a mixture of what was probably fright and sickness. Hansol crouched beside the poor shivering creature, reaching out a tentative hand to brush a finger over the kitten’s head. His finger dipped behind the kitten’s ears, eliciting a soft meow from the animal.

Hansol completely lowered himself onto the asphalt, sitting down in the middle of the freeway, thankful that no one was coming this late at night. The kitten stumbled over to prop it’s paws up on Hansol’s leg, emitting a soft purr when the man scooped him up gently. Hansol stood, cradling the poor animal in his arms. 

The kitten stayed close to Hansol’s chest, paws resting on the man’s shoulders and head lying above them. Hansol was barely able to separate the kitten from his shirt, maneuvering the animal’s claws out of the fabric and setting him down in the passenger’s seat. 

The kitten mewled, crawling up and over the middle console, though his back legs slipped and he slid down into the cupholder. Hansol’s face broke into a grin, the tiny kitten really looked adorable nestled snugly in his cupholder.

Although the kitten’s goal had been to crawl into Hansol’s lap, he seemed to be content sitting in the cupholder. He didn’t look uncomfortable, so Hansol let him stay there, breathing deeply for a few moments before stepping on the gas and driving the rest of the way home. 

The kitty was a good driving buddy, sitting quietly in the cupholder and meowing up at Hansol when they stopped at red lights. Hansol would gently rub over the kitten’s ears until the light turned green again, all the way until they got home.

When they finally did turn into Hansol’s garage and the door slid closed behind the car the man gently scooped the kitten out of the cupholder, cradling him gently in his palms and cracking open the door to his house. He set the kitty down once he was inside, walking forward a few steps into the house before he felt a soft weight on his pant leg and he looked down, seeing the kitten crawling up his leg, hooking his little claws into the fabric. 

Hansol cooed, helping the kitten back up into his arms. He felt the animal tremble in his hands and realized that the poor thing must have been freezing, grabbing a blanket from his couch and swaddling the kitty. A purr was heard from the blanket burrito and Hansol grinned, biting his lip as he realized he had no idea what to do now. He wasn’t a cat owner. He didn’t know what to do for a cat. 

“Uh, okay. I know cats don’t like water, but, um,” Hansol held the kitten up in his arms, grimacing at the dirt caked into the poor thing’s fur, “I think you need a bath.”

He got no protests, only a soft meow and a paw resting on his thumb. Hansol grinned, kicking off his shoes and making his way into the bathroom. The kitten was too small for the bathtub, so Hansol filled the sink with warm water and poured a little bit of bubble solution in it, letting the soap foam up and over the edges of the sink. The kitten’s pupils dilated at the sight of the bubbles resting on the counter and Hansol set him down gently on the cold slab, laughing when the cat dipped his paw in the bubbles, getting some on his nose and whipping his head around, trying to get the bubbles to come off. Hansol swiped a finger over the kitten’s nose, wiping the bubbles off. The kitten meowed in thanks, pouncing on Hansol’s hand and gently gnawing on the man’s fingers. 

The sink filled up quickly and Hansol stuck his hand under the water, checking to be sure that it wasn’t too warm. It seemed like a good temperature, plus, the kitten was still shivering, so he swiped some of the bubbles out of the way, clearing a space for the tiny kitten to sit. 

“Okay, um, I’m gonna put you in the water now. Please don’t, uh, bite me.” Hansol slowly lowered the cat into the sink, sighing in relief when there were no protests at all, merely a purr as the warm water surrounded the small animal. 

Hansol let the kitten adjust to the water, laughing when the creature slammed its paw down into the bath and sent water droplets flying in all directions. The kitten yowled when water soaked into his muzzle, using a paw to try to rub it off.

Hansol gently swiped a thumb over the kitten’s face, clearing the water from it like he had done with the bubbles. The kitten purred at his touch, letting Hansol pour a handful of water on his head afterwards. Once the animal was soaked in warm water Hansol took a bit of his hand soap, verifying that it was animal-safe before gently rubbing a little drop into the kitten’s head. The kitten purred, leaning into Hansol’s touch and letting the man lather the rest of the soap into his fur. 

Two minutes later and the kitten was slumped over in Hansol’s hands, purring softly as the man ran his fingers through the bubbles in the kitten’s fur. Hansol marveled at how the kitten fit so perfectly in his palms, grinning at the sight of the animal’s tiny paw pads.

Hansol finally rinsed the soap out of the kitten’s fur, cooing when he found it to be a soft cream color, dark brown streaked around the cat’s face. He couldn’t really tell the color before. 

Hansol wrapped the tiny kitten in his hand towel, gently rubbing the water out of the creature’s fur. He held the kitten close to his chest, cradling it in his arms as he walked into the kitchen. He’d had dinner hours ago, it was almost one in the morning, but the kitten definitely needed food, if the other signs of neglect were anything to go by. 

Luckily, Hansol had a can of tuna in his refrigerator, cracking it open and serving it cold to the kitten. The animal stared up at him, nearly glaring at the man. 

“What?! That’s food for you, it’s the best I can do!”

The kitten yowled, pushing the can away with a paw and sitting expectantly in front of Hansol.

“I don’t know what you want me to do! I don’t have anything else, that’s your only choice!”

The kitten simply turned away from the bowl, looking up at the counter and padding over to Hansol, crawling up the leg of his jeans and leaping from there onto the counter. Hansol stood silently in awe as the kitty explored his counter, slightly terrified when the cat showed an interest in his knife block. The kitten, however, didn’t stop in front of the knives for too long, moving onto where a banana sat on the counter. Hansol’s forgotten breakfast from that morning.

“You want… you want a banana?” Hansol reached for the banana, peeling it and brandishing a small chunk to the kitten. The cat ate it happily, sitting in between Hansol’s hands and up against the man’s chest as the man continued to feed him. 

Once the banana was gone Hansol threw away the peel, gently scooping up the kitten from the counter and shutting off the lights to the kitchen and dining room. He flicked the lights to his bedroom on, gently laying the kitten on his bed and ducking into his closet to change. He slid on a pair of flannel pajama pants and a plain t-shirt, walking back out into his room to find the kitten no longer resting on the bed but instead seeing a lump burrowing under his covers. 

Hansol grinned, peeling back a corner of his blankets to see the kitten curled up, purrs trickling from its throat. Hansol cooed, gently scooting the kitten to one side of the bed as he flicked off the light, getting settled under the blankets before he let go of the kitten. 

The cat was immediately by Hansol’s head, burrowing into the man’s neck and curling up there. Hansol heard soft purrs beside his ear, grinning to himself and letting a hand rest on the kitten’s back as he drifted off to sleep.


	5. Chapter Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I hope you enjoy this chapter, one away from the final one!! <3 Please let me know what you're thinking of this story, feedback is much appreciated <3 :)

The feel of warm air hitting the side of his face was what awoke Hansol, rousing the man from his deep sleep. He blinked sleepily, trying to remember what had happened last. He eventually remembered finding the kitten, turning his head expecting to see the sleeping animal beside him.

Except, it was definitely not a kitten that Hansol found lying beside him in his bed. It was a full human being, with squishy, flushed cheeks, a button nose, and eyelashes long enough to brush the apples of his cheeks as his eyes laid shut. 

Hansol’s eyes widened but he kept a scream concealed, trying to slide off of the bed and realizing that the man’s arms were wrapped tightly around his waist. Hansol was trapped. 

Hansol was about to shove the man off of him, his hands already pressing on the other’s chest but then the man shifted, revealing two furry ears atop his head. Hansol’s breath caught in his throat, realizing that, with the absence of the kitten from last night, this man was probably, somehow, the cat. He’d heard rumors of hybrids that the government was testing. Though, he wasn’t sure what needed testing, they weren’t machines. They were as much human as they were animal. But maybe this was an escapee?

The tail lying limp on the sheets beside the man reaffirmed that yes, Hansol did, in fact, have a hybrid on his hands. 

He slowly reached up to brush a finger over the man’s left cat ear, gasping softly when it twitched under his touch. This felt _wrong_ , petting a person. But Hansol needed him to wake up, because he wanted answers.

He dug his nails into the fur at the base of the man’s cat ears, blinking softly when the man began purring in response. He continued massaging the man’s ears, feeling intrigue build up higher and higher the longer the man proved himself to be a hybrid. Hansol drew his hand back, recognizing that petting the man was only making him sleepier, but when he pulled his hand back, the man let out a soft hum, rolling over so that his cheek was pressed into the palm of Hansol’s hand, pinning it to the bed. Hansol let out a soft, _‘oh’_ , realizing that his hand was now stuck, and he really needed to wake this man up.

“Uhm, excuse me, mister, uh,” Hansol used his free hand to gently shake the man’s shoulder, mumbling under his breath when the man didn’t wake. 

“Oh god, um, sir, please, I need you to, um, please wake up.” Hansol rambled, sighing in relief when the hybrid's eyes slowly blinked open. The man yawned sleepily, snuggling further into Hansol’s hand before seeing his own, very human, hand resting on top of it. 

His eyes widened and he screamed, jolting backwards and hitting his head on the wall. Hansol cringed, reaching forward to help the man back upright but his hands were smacked away.

“Please don’t hurt me!”

Hansol froze in his position by the bed, eyes narrowing in confusion. 

“Why would I…”

“Because… I’m different. Please, just let me go, I’ll leave you alone, I promise!”

“I…” Hansol sighed, head spinning as he tried thinking of what he was supposed to do, “You can leave if you want. But you’re safe here. I won’t hurt you. I don’t care that you’re different. That doesn’t give people a right to treat you badly.”

“But they do.” The man sniffled, tears welling up in his big brown eyes.

“I’m not going to force you to stay or go, it’s up to you. But I want you to know that I won’t hurt you. Like I said, you’re safe here.”

“How can I trust you?”

“I took care of you last night, didn’t I?” Hansol remembered the tiny shivering kitten that had been able to fit in the palms of his hands, barely able to wrap his head around it that the man now curled up on his bed was that kitten.

“But I wasn’t a hybrid then. Or at least, you didn’t know I was.”

“If I wanted to hurt you, wouldn’t I have done it already? I found you asleep in my bed, if I had wanted an opportunity to harm you that would have been it.”

“I guess so…” The cat hybrid bit his lip, eyes trailing cautiously over Hansol’s face.

“Hey, if I do anything that you’re uncomfortable with, tell me. I’ll stop. Or you can leave. I won’t stop you, if it’s what you want. But at least let me feed you or something.”

The cat hybrid’s face scrunched into a scowl, “Not that nasty tuna, right?”

Hansol scoffed, a smile worming its way onto his face, “It’s all I had! And I thought cats were supposed to like tuna!”

“I’m sure I wouldn’t hate it if it wasn’t served so revoltingly!” 

Hansol chuckled, running a hand through his bedhead and realizing, after going to address the cat hybrid by name, that he didn’t know what it was.

“Uh, by the way, what’s your name?” Hansol laid a hand on the foot of the bed, leaning on it and shifting his weight to one side.

“Ah, Seungkwan. And yours?”

“Hansol.”

\--

Hansol turned the keys in the ignition, turning the car off and looking over at Seungkwan in the passenger’s seat.

“You ready?”

“Yeah, are you sure they won’t mind me in there?”

Hansol chuckled, “Of course not! You’re another paying customer, let’s go.” 

He opened his door, meeting Seungkwan around the back and grabbing his hand. Seungkwan’s cheeks reddened slightly, but Hansol took no notice, merely dragging him towards the small cafe. It was nine in the morning, and though Hansol was rather surprised when he’d woken up to a human being snuggled up to him in his bed rather than the small, malnourished little cat that he’d taken in the night before, he wasn’t heartless. He wanted Seungkwan to feel welcome, because he was. 

The pair walked into the cafe together, little bell above their heads chiming and making Seungkwan’s little cat ears perk up under the beanie that he’d borrowed from Hansol. Hansol chuckled, pinching Seungkwan’s side teasingly and leading him to the counter.

Hansol ordered his drink and pastry, quietly explaining to Seungkwan what each item on the menu was. Seungkwan chose his order quickly, not liking the way that the cashier gave him a puzzled look when he mispronounced doughnut; It was a hard word to read after an entire life in captivity, and a painfully weak set of lessons on reading, okay?

When their order was placed they retreated to a table in the corner, sitting by a window. The sunlight streamed in through the window panes and though it was molded by the curtains that hung around it, it managed to soak Seungkwan in it’s warmth. The cat hybrid closed his eyes, a serene smile sneaking its way onto his face. Hansol’s breath nearly caught in his throat at the sight of the man opposite him sunbathing, eyes flickering over the man’s face. They drank in the sun-kissed cheeks, the eyelashes glittering and brushing the apples of his cheeks, the plump lips curved up into the softest grin possible, the locks of freshly washed brown hair dipping down over his forehead, the button nose that was glinting with the tiniest drop of golden light. 

Hansol realized too late that Seungkwan had opened his eyes, but the cat hybrid’s grin didn’t falter, growing slightly wider when his eyes met Hansol’s. Hansol gulped, though he held Seungkwan’s stare with his own, the teeth digging into his lip unable to prevent him from breaking out into a smile. Each man finally broke their staring contest, breathing out little laughs and averting their gazes elsewhere. Hansol’s went to Seungkwan’s hand, and Seungkwan’s went to Hansol’s hand. Neither made a move.

“Sun feels good.” Seungkwan spoke, still looking like heaven on earth sitting in the cafe window.

“Sun _looks_ good.” Hansol shot back before he quite realized what was happening, cheeks flaming when he realized what he had said. 

Seungkwan only smiled, “You think so? I never really got to see it before. It does make everything really pretty.” Seungkwan was still fixated on Hansol’s hand, lying tantalizingly close to his own on the tabletop. The sun illuminated it in a way that made it look like Hansol was glowing, like he was an angel, and, Seungkwan supposed, he was. Maybe Hansol was _Seungkwan’s_ angel.

Hansol was just about to work up the courage to slide his hand into Seungkwan’s when two cups were placed on the table, startling the both of them out of their trance. Seungkwan’s eyes went wide and he gasped audibly, a hand flying to rest over his heart, and Hansol furrowed his eyebrows.

“Ah, thank you.” Hansol waved the waitress off, taking their food before turning back to Seungkwan, “Are you alright?”

“Um, yeah. Just got startled.”

“Okay.” Hansol desperately wanted to say something else, maybe ask what was really going on or why the cat hybrid had never seen sunlight and was startled by the sound of a cup on a wood table, but instead of prying he dug into his bagel. It was much easier, and much less anxiety-inducing. It tasted better too.

Seungkwan bit into his donut, eyes widening at the sugary sweet icing coating the cake. He had gotten a simple glazed donut, but the way he was reacting Hansol would have thought he was eating a four hundred dollar five-course meal. 

“I’m guessing you like the donut?” Hansol grinned, spreading more cream cheese on his bagel before taking another bite.

“Mhm! ‘S so good!” Seungkwan spoke through a mouthful of cake, cheeks bulging with the treat. Hansol smiled wistfully, taking sips of his drink in between bites of his bagel until both were gone. Seungkwan ate slower, savoring each bite of his doughnut and each sip of his drink. Hansol would have been upset at anyone else for dragging out a simple breakfast for that long, but it was Seungkwan, and he found out that he couldn’t be mad at Seungkwan.

The two left the cafe once Seungkwan was finally done with his breakfast, the cat hybrid finally having the guts to wrap his pinky around Hansol’s when their hands kept brushing together at their sides. Hansol said nothing, only curled his pinky tighter around Seungkwan’s as they walked.

The pair walked back to the car, driving home while making small talk. Hansol was fun to talk to, and Seungkwan felt safe talking to him. He felt safe talking to Mingyu too, but this was different. Hansol was different to Seungkwan than Mingyu was. Seungkwan mulled this over in his head as they drove, a soft smile on his cheeks the entire time. 

Hansol helped Seungkwan inside, giggling softly when he realized that the cat hybrid was very confused by the car door system. Hansol leaned over the center console, face tantalizingly close to Seungkwan’s as he showed the cat hybrid how to pull the lever back. 

Seungkwan had barely gotten a foot in the door before he felt a slight spasm in his neck, his whole body going slack as he dropped to the floor. He gasped, hands flying up to lay flush to his neck, where he felt a soft but disturbing vibrating sensation. 

He knew what it was. He’d felt the sensation many times before, though most times the sensation was ten times stronger, more of an electric shock than a slight spasm. But now it was gentle, barely there.

Seungkwan furrowed his brows, trying to understand why his creator would have let him off easy. He knew he’d done something wrong, running away, but wouldn’t that mean that he’d be punished more severely until he was inevitably hunted down again? Why wouldn’t the man crank the dial up to ten? Seungkwan laid slumped over the threshold of Hansol’s home, eyes scrunched in wait for the pain to escalate.

It was after almost a minute of soft, near indistinguishable vibrations that Seungkwan knew _exactly_ why it wasn’t painful. He realized the pattern that the vibrations were being performed in, having sung the song to Mingyu at least once a night, usually more, when they were permitted to sleep. It was Second Life, it was _his_ Second Life, it was Mingyu. But, the only way Mingyu could have access to Seungkwan’s chip, the one they’d had implanted in them from the day they were born, used only for punishments, was if Mingyu was back in the lab. Which meant that he’d been captured again, which meant that he needed help. And Seungkwan couldn’t leave Mingyu hanging. He and Mingyu had been like brothers since day one, and that wasn’t changing now. Seungkwan stood abruptly, only then registering Hansol’s worried voice asking him over and over and over if he was alright, what was happening?

Seungkwan looked Hansol dead in the eyes, “We need to go.”

“What? Seungkwan, what do you mean? Are you okay?” Hansol let Seungkwan tug him out of the house, wincing when Seungkwan’s nails dug into his wrist a _little_ too hard.

“We just need to go, I’ll tell you on the way.”

“Uhh, okay.” Hansol didn’t really know what else to say, what was he supposed to? There wasn’t really anything he could do. So he let Seungkwan drag him down the street, waiting more and more impatiently for an explanation.

Hansol realized that Seungkwan was not explaining anything on his own, so Hansol turned to him with a petrified look on his face.

“Okay, so, what’s going on?”

“My brother is in trouble. And I have to help him.”

“Who? How do you know?”

“I just know. We have to go back to where I escaped from, they have him again, they took him, he’s there, he’s stuck and I don’t know how to save him-”

“Seungkwan! It’s gonna be fine, he’s gonna be okay. Where am I supposed to go? I need directions.”

“It’s only a few minutes from here. I remember running through here the night I escaped. I ran towards the freeway where you found me, but I ran through here first. It’s in the basement system of an old set of warehouse, no one uses it anymore. We can just walk, it would be suspicious if a car was parked there.”

“Okay.”

“Just lead the way, I guess.” Hansol went to continue walking but was stopped when Seungkwan did so himself, tugging Hansol back to stand still on the sidewalk.

Hansol turned, seeing Seungkwan looking at him with wide eyes, an unreadable expression on his face.

“Seungkwan?”

“Thank you.”


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hihihi!! I hope you liked this story, this is the very last part!! I worked really hard on this, and I can't believe it's all finished! Thank you for the feedback that I've gotten, I really appreciate it all.

Seungkwan couldn’t believe that they’d been able to get into the building with almost no threats. Only a few guards were stationed out in the open, and they didn’t see Hansol and Seungkwan as the pair snuck past. They were able to get into a hallway, and Seungkwan started towards the room that he knew the man would be holding Mingyu in, but then they heard voices from behind them, and it was _his_ voice.

Seungkwan grabbed Hansol’s hand and yanked him into an open pathway off the side of the hallway, shrouding the both of them in shadow so that they could watch for their moment. Seungkwan watched as _the_ man, the man that was responsible for his entire life of struggling and hardships, of torture and captivity, carted his brother off in handcuffs. He was sick and tired of the two of them being treated as less than humans. They were ten times the people that their captor ever had been or ever could be, and yet time after time they’d had to sit there and take abuse.

No more.

Seungwan leaned back, pressing his mouth flush to Hansol’s ear, “On my cue, we jump. You go for the guard, I’ll go for the other one.” He had to speak as quietly as possible, and he was thankful that no one but Mingyu noticed. He saw the man’s dog ears perk, so hopefully he’d be prepared for what was coming. 

Seungkwan waited until their captor’s hands were at his sides, unable to properly protect himself from the incoming attack. When it was the perfect time to strike, the cat hybrid tugged on Hansol’s arm, shouting a rousing, _‘Now!’_.

Heads whipped around, weapons were reached for, but no one was able to stop Seungkwan and Hansol from apprehending the guard and their creator, Seungkwan’s claws protruding from his hands as he held the sick man tight to himself, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. 

Seungkwan watched as Mingyu sprung back to his feet, dipping down to get the keys from the guard and unlocking the handcuffs of the other man present, then his own when the man was free. The man that Mingyu had been apprehended with noticed that Hansol seemed to be struggling with the guard in his grasp, sending a sharp kick straight between the legs of the guard. Hansol no longer needed to hold the man up, simply letting him fall limp on the ground in pain.

Seungkwan’s focus was back on the man in his grasp, “Yell, and I rip your throat out. Move, and I rip your throat out. Try to signal in any way that you’re in danger, and I rip your throat out. Don’t make me rip your throat out, it would take so long to get your blood out from under my nails.” 

“Seungkwan,” Sengkwan’s fingers instinctually tightened at the man’s voice, claws gently scraping the man’s exposed flesh, “You’ve become so feisty! When I saw you last, you flinched away when I walked in the room. What happened?”

“I woke up, and I had changed.” Seungkwan shot a quick grin at Vernon, he wasn’t really lying, “But that’s not why we’re here, we’re here because you clearly don’t know when to quit.”

Their captor laughed, an evil, vile laugh that sent Seungkwan’s stomach churning and Seungkwan’s nails pressing further and further into his throat.

“ _I_ don’t know when to quit? Seungkwan, you shouldn’t have come back. You played _right_ into my hands, this is exactly what I wanted to happen.”

“Things don’t seem to be going in your favor.” The voice came from the man that they’d helped escape alongside Mingyu, his face in a small smirk as he pointed out the man’s predicament.

“This is all part of my plan, soon you’ll be back in cells and I can finally use Seungkwan and Mingyu like they were meant to be used, I’ll be the richest man-” Seungkwan’s mind flashed with images of the cells that he and Mingyu were held in as children, all the way up until only a few hours before, the neglect that they’d faced, the abuse that they’d tolerated, and the compliance in him finally snapped, as did the man’s neck as Seungkwan sunk his claws into the flesh. Seungkwan felt blood pour down his fingers, fresh from the wounds he was still making but he couldn’t stop, he wouldn’t stop, he needed to cause this man just as much, if not more, pain as he’d been causing Seungkwan and Mingyu for their entire lives. 

Finally Seungkwan’s head cleared, the dead weight of the man breaking him out of his trance. Seungkwan retracted his claws, watching as blood dripped from his fingers onto the floor. 

“Okay, so, I just killed a man, and I don’t know what to do with that information.” Seungkwan hated the way that the blood looked on his hands, felt on his hands, _was_ on his hands, but it was better pouring out with the man’s life than pumping sick rage through the man’s veins all day every day. 

“Let’s just focus on getting out of here, do you guys remember where you came in from?” the man that had been held captive with Mingyu spoke, having sidestepped so that the man wouldn’t fall on him.

Seungkwan nodded, taking Hansol’s hand with his _non_ -bloody one, leading the way out of the prison that he’d been stuck in for his entire life. To walk out of it knowing that the cause of all of it was dead, that there was no one that would ever make him come back here, was liberating. 

\--

The four of them reached Hansol’s house after what seemed like hours, the blood drying on Seungkwan’s fingers making his stomach churn. The man that Mingyu had been with was named Wonwoo, and apparently, he was Mingyu’s Hansol. Seungkwan was glad that Mingyu had a Hansol.

Hansol had called his friend, apparently he knew someone in medical school, named Choi Seungcheol, that was on his way to fix Wonwoo’s wound up. The man had been _stabbed_ , and you’d think he’d simply falled and scraped his knee for all he seemed to care. Seungkwan had barely registered what Hansol was saying until he was being pulled out to the car, apparently Hansol hadn’t had enough supplies to fix up Wonwoo’s wound. Seungkwan thought that was what was going on, but the adrenaline rush was starting to become a crash instead and Seungkwan wasn’t sure what was going on at all. 

All of a sudden Seungkwan was in the car and he snapped back to reality, looking over at Hansol with wide eyes.

“When did we get in here?”

“.. what? Just now, Seungkwan, are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just,” Seungkwan rubbed his temples, “Tired, I guess.”

“Oh. Okay. Are you, like, _really_ okay, though?” Hansol wasn’t sure how to phrase it, maybe, _‘Hey, was that man who’s throat you ripped out a past enemy or-’_ , or maybe, _‘How do you know your way around that goddamn dungeon so well?’_.

Neither seemed good enough.

“I dunno. I’m just… shaken up, I guess.”

Hansol nodded, though he hesitated to start the car. He didn’t feel right dismissing Seungkwan’s problems.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Hansol turned towards Seungkwan who nodded, cocking his head to the side ever so slightly. It was adorable.

“How did you know that your friend was being held captive there? What happened?”

“Ah, that.” Seungkwan’s hand flew up to rub the spot in his neck where he knew the chip was, almost able to feel the ghosts of past punishments. “Well when that guy, the one I killed,” Seungkwan gulped after the statement was made, the man was vile and deserved death, but taking someone’s life was not something Seungkwan ever thought he’d do, “He made us. He put chips in us when we were born, so that when we misbehaved, he could shock us. And I felt it again, but it was soft, and it didn’t hurt. And after I sat for a while I realized that it was a song that I used to sing to Mingyu when we were both cooped up together. Only he knows that song. And only the computer in that building can control the chips. So I knew it was him. I knew he was there, and I knew he wasn’t exactly vacationing there.” 

Hansol let out a bitter chuckle, but let his eyes meet Seungkwan’s once more, “You sing?”

“Probably not well.” Seungkwan blushed, hands flying to his lap to fiddle with one another.

“I bet it’d be better than my singing.”

Seungkwan merely blushed, “It just made me feel safe. And I think it made Mingyu safe too.”

“Seungkwan?”

“Hm?”

“Will you sing it for me?”

“Ah, I don’t know. It’s probably pretty bad.”

“No! No, I wanna hear it! What’s it called?”

“Second Life. I promised Mingyu that we’d get one.”

“Can I hear it? Please?” 

Seungkwan exhaled, steeling himself for the task ahead. He supposed, if he was going to mentally label Hansol as his second life, the man deserved to know where the nickname came from.

“Okay. But be nice, please.”

“Of course.”

Hansol listened as Seungkwan began to sing, his voice light and soft and _perfect_. Hansol had never been one for ballads, he wasn’t exactly sure if this was one, but it wasn’t his normal style. Somehow, Seungkwan had taken Hansol’s entire music taste and flipped it around. Hansol wondered if it was the song that he liked better, or just Seungkwan’s voice. Either way, he’d listen to it on repeat for the rest of his life if he had the chance.

Seungkwan only sang a few bars, cheeks positively flaming when he shut his mouth. Hansol was completely overwhelmed by emotion, eyes even stinging slightly with tears at the raw beauty demonstrated right before his eyes. 

“Hey, Seungkwan?”

“Yeah?” Seungkwan’s voice was a mere whisper, fear laced in every part of it.

“Can I be your second life?”

Seungkwan turned to face Hansol, his eyes wide and cheeks aflame once more.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“You want to be?”

“Yes. More than anything.”

Seungkwan’s face broke into a grin, the brightest he’d ever bore as he nodded, “I’d like that.”


End file.
